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GPSMAP 66st - Battery Issues
rjmlakota
181 Points
I used my new GPSMAP 66st this weekend. Needless to say I experienced I was not to happy. Saturday morning I turned it on and begin a track. I walked for about 4 hours saving way points as I went. Well, when I got back to camp the GPS unit was off. When turning back on, I received a replace battery message. I dismissed the message and when the GPS unit powered on the battery indicator was showing full. After reviewing my track, I determined the GPS power off about an hour before my hike was complete.
Has anyone else experienced this?
Thanks in advance,
RJ
Has anyone else experienced this?
Thanks in advance,
RJ
Comments
Thanks for the replies.
RJ
That may be it! I just checked and it's set to NiMH. Do you think this would cause the issue?
Change the setting and let us know if it works.
RJ
or this
https://www8.garmin.com/manuals/webhelp/gpsmap66s_st/EN-US/GUID-A3A6045C-4E59-4265-AD77-39D6C8E18CEF.html
I haven't had a chance to test again, but will this weekend. I just checked these settings and both of are off.
TCMan, please keep us posted and I will also
RJ
Thanks,
RJ
RJ
"It still just crashes all the time in a manner that turns itself off, or requires you to pull the batteries out to reset it or it stays frozen on a screen."
"In my view, it’s a paperweight, at least until it has some work to it’s device software.
I’d by no means trust it to even maintain a track log for a long hike without just turning off, or freezing."
"To be honest, more often than not, mine just turns off by itself, but occasionally, and especially that time int he car, it freezes and needs batteries removed."
I'll stick with my bombproof Etrex 20 :)
But hey, it could be worse.... think about all the problems Garmin had with the Monterra, a $700 device that was never fully de-bugged before it was discontinued. Or the GPSMap 276cx, a buggy $800 device that infuriated many early adopters (who were all big Garmin fans). After two years, I'm not sure if all those issues have been addressed.
I'm sure the GPSMap66 will eventually work properly though, it's an evolutionary device, unlike the 276cx and Monterra. But you will just need to be patient, and have a backup device for anything critical. If you aren't a patient person and are still within the return/exchange window, you might give it some serious consideration.
"Batteries too low for full backlight or tones. Use Rechargeable NiMH or Lithium batteries to prevent this limiting"
I'd press enter to dismiss the message and the display brightness would automatically be down to 50%. This occurred on a full battery.
forums.geocaching.com/GC/index.php?/topic/349766-garmin-gpsmap-66-series-announced-on-2018-08-06/&page=5&tab=comments#comment-5757205
___________
"I found that my device performed Factory Reset unexpectedly. I experienced this behavior 3 times and every time the system would jump into the "Language selection" screen (the screen that you switch on the device first time). After I choose "English" and enter the system main screen, all my previous setting is gone!"
RJ